Bridgepoint Education Receives Three-Year Unofficial Cohort Default Rates from DOE for Ashford University and University of the Rockies

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Bridgepoint Education, Inc. (NYSE: BPI), a provider of postsecondary education services focused on providing higher access to higher education, announced today that it received the Department of Education's (DOE) unofficial three-year Cohort Default Rates (CDRs) for Ashford University and University of the Rockies, which rates were released to the institutions on December 7, 2009. The three-year unofficial CDRs for Ashford University were 8.8%, 6.1% and 17.4% for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 federal fiscal years, respectively. For University of the Rockies the unofficial three-year CDRs were 5.5%, 0% and 0% for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 federal fiscal years, respectively. The three-year CDRs are unofficial, because, according the Higher Education Opportunity Act, institutions are not required to calculate prior three-year repayment rates until 2012, and the rates will not be the basis for measurement of compliance until 2014.

"Commensurate with our goal to provide a quality student experience, Bridgepoint Education has made significant investments in internal and external resources to assist in default management practices," said Andrew Clark, chief executive officer of Bridgepoint Education. "These investments include hiring additional internal administrative and experienced management personnel to assist students who have left the institution and are in repayment, as well as contracting with an external default management firm to implement a comprehensive student-default management plan.

"It is important to note that the CDRs for both Ashford University and the University of the Rockies, which are calculated based on the first two years of repayment, have been well within the statutory limits for continued Title IV eligibility," Clark explained. "By the time the three-year rates apply in 2012, we expect that the investments we have made and the organizational changes we have instituted will allow us to maintain the CDRs for our institutions well within the anticipated statutory limits, as supported by the unofficial 3-year rates we have received from the DOE."

About Bridgepoint Education

Bridgepoint Education's postsecondary education services focus on offering associate's, bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs in the disciplines of business, education, psychology, social sciences and health sciences. Bridgepoint Education's regionally accredited academic institutions - Ashford University and University of the Rockies - deliver their programs online as well as at traditional campuses located in Clinton, Iowa, and Colorado Springs, Colorado, respectively.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, regarding Bridgepoint Education, Inc., or the Company. These statements include information relating to future events, future financial performance, strategies, expectations, competitive environment, regulation and availability of financial resources. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and estimates including, without limitation, those regarding management's expectation regarding statutory limits for cohort default rates; management's expectation regarding the Company's ability to manage cohort default rates within anticipated statutory limits in future periods and in past periods that have not yet been reported; the Company's continued ability to hire and/or contract with appropriate personnel to manage the Company's cohort default rates; and other similar matters that are not historical facts. Words such as "may," "should," "could," "would," "predicts," "potential," "continue," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates" and similar expressions, as well as statements in the future tense, identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.

Forward-looking statements should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future performance or results and will not necessarily be accurate indications of the times at, or by, which such performance or results will be achieved. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made and management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to the Company's inability to manage cohort default rates in current and future periods within statutory limits; the Company's inability to hire and/or contract with appropriate personnel to manage the Company's cohort default rates; the Company's inability to influence the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General (OIG) to change the findings in the OIG's audit reports; the Company's inability to address the OIG's preliminary findings or the ultimate findings of the OIG's audit reports; the imposition of fines or other corrective measures against the Company's academic institutions; the Company's failure to comply with the extensive regulatory framework applicable to its industry, including Title IV of the Higher Education Act and its regulations, state laws and regulatory requirements and accrediting agency requirements; unexpected difficulties or delays in implementing the eCollege online learning platform; failure to achieve the expected benefits from transitioning to the eCollege online learning platform; the Company's inability to continue to develop awareness among, to recruit and to retain students; competition in the postsecondary education market and its potential impact on the Company's market share, recruiting cost and tuition rates; reputational and other risks related to potential compliance audits, regulatory actions, negative publicity or service disruptions; the Company's ability to attract and retain the personnel needed to sustain and grow its business; the Company's inability to develop new programs or expand its existing programs in a timely and cost-effective manner; economic or other developments potentially impacting demand in the Company's core disciplines or the availability or cost of Title IV or other funding; and other factors discussed in Part II, Item 1A (Risk Factors) of the Company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q filed on May 21, 2009, August 11, 2009, and November 4, 2009, and in other reports the Company may file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that the Company will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.